With more and more news stories about credit card theft, people are starting to look for ways to protect themselves. A company that they will probably come across during their search is Lifelock and many wonder: “Is Lifelock a scam?” The good news that it is not a scam in the literal sense. The bad news is that it probably does not offer you all the protection you think.
About Lifelock
Lifelock, now called Lifelock by Norton, was founded in 2005 by Todd David And Robert Maynard. In 2017, Lifelock was taken over by Symantec for $ 2.3 billion and later sold to Gen Digital Inc., where the software was marketed as a bundle with Norton 360. The product has different levels – with individual plans with up to $ 1,000,000 coverage for legal expertise, $ 25,000 to theft improvement and credit monitoring.
Although there are a number of people who have been happy with the services of life, there are quite a few those complaints about the policy and practices of Lifelock. Lifelock, for example, has a 1.08 rating (of the 5) of the Better Business Bureau, and more 1,324 Complaints have been closed in the last three years (here).
Here are a few reasons why you don’t need life:
Their warranty does not protect against direct losses
While Lifelock promises to spend $ 1 million to restore the identity of a customer after they have been the victim of identity theft, that guarantee does not actually protect the customer against costs. Neither does the warranty promise to restore the lost money.
Too expensive
Lifelock charges $ 11.99 per month for their services, which comes to a total of $ 143.88 for the year. Although you may think that this is a reasonable price to pay to protect your identity to be stolen, many of the services that Lifelock promises are free elsewhere are free. Although the more of your personal time can cost to call up credit companies to prepare fraud reports or to register for credit card offers, it will save you to pay $ 12 a month for a third party to do the same.
Fraud alerts
One of Lifelock’s practices is asking credit agencies to place free fraud reports on all your accounts, so that both you and Lifelock are informed of any fraudulent activity. Instead of Lifelock, a third party, you ask the credit agencies to do this on your behalf, you can place a fraud alert on your information yourself. You only have to inform one agency because they inform the remaining two of the fraud alerts on your accounts.
Renewing fraud alerts
Fraud alerts expire after 90 days and Lifelock claims that they will automatically extend your warnings once the 90 days have risen. Although it is easy to have an automatic renewal for the fraud alerts on your accounts, it is also fairly easy to simply call the credit agencies and to request a fraud alert. If you are worried about forgetting to do this, make a note on your agenda to remind you.
Pre -approved credit card offers
Almost everyone experienced that he received tons of spampost with pre -approved credit card offers. Although Lifelock claims that they will ask that your name will be removed from such junk mail offers, you can do this yourself. Just go to Optoutreen And place all your information instead of transferring it to Lifelock.
Credit reports
Lifelock also says that some of its services includes ordering a free annual credit report for its users. However, you can order a free annual credit report at Annual credit reportIt works with the three approved credit agencies and possibly also get more free credit reports. It is much safer to go through a legitimate credit agency approved by the government than a third -party site.
Sneaky advertisements
Although identity theft must always be a reason for concern, the practices of Lifelock are more based on the fear of identity theft instead of identity theft itself. The marketing practices of the company want you to believe that there is a good chance that your identity will be stolen and that only they can prevent it. There are, however different steps You can take on yourself to prevent identity theft.
Fieste fraudulent charges
Lifelock also claims that although it does not dispute the fraudulent costs that you receive, you will help cancel your credit cards and contact all your financial institutions. Instead of leting Lifelock to help you contact your bank, do it yourself. Most financial institutions will forgive fraudulent costs if you inform them within 30 to 60 days. It can take a lot of time on the phone to replace everything and to clean up those costs, but it is better to have them taken care of completely.
Invoicing problems
Some people Online has complained that after canceling their subscription to Lifelock, the company has been charged monthly costs. This is, for example, what a user said about his service.
Many credit or financial organizations and third-party companies are often charged with this complaint, so it is in your interest to think very carefully about whether or not you want to tackle these types of problems.
Third party
One of the biggest reasons why you don’t need Lifelock is that it is ultimately a third -party company that now has access to all your personal information. Most people know that they should not give their social security number to third parties, because that is one of the biggest goals for identity theft. Lifelock is a fast and easy solution, but you can deal with identity theft much better. A third party is not necessary to have access to your information or to take steps that you could complete yourself.